Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Apologies for the broken link in my dresses post from May 5... the link was working for a while, then it broke, and I can't for the life of me find that page anymore. Agh! Here's a slideshow of dresses from the Met Gala, from another source entirely.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Today I took my plan for the revision I just finished down from the wall and put the plan for the book I'm drafting back up on the wall. I moved all the books, papers, and notebooks for the finished revision off of my desk and piled all the stuff for the new book in their place. I pulled all the notecards and pictures down from the blinds and put up all the new notecards and pictures.

Then I spent the next several hours stomping around the house with a storm cloud over my head, checking email, sending texts, playing Splash on my phone, reading the news, knitting, eating rice pudding, worrying needlessly about any unrelated thing that came to mind, and basically doing anything I could to avoid having to look at the book plan for the new book. I JUST DON'T WANT TO KNOW. I wrote in an email to some friends, "I truly don't understand why I ever thought writing a book was a good idea. BLECH BLECH BLECH. BOOKS ARE JUNK."

I have three published books, two contracted books in revisions, two uncontracted manuscripts that are too awful ever to be published, and this new book I'm trying to get back into. This new book is the eighth book I've ever endeavored to write. Therefore, I know from experience that today was normal. Tomorrow, I'll probably get myself to reread the book plan for the new book. Parts of it will give me indigestion and other parts will make me SO HAPPY. Shortly after that, I'll get myself to reread what I've written of the book so far. Parts of it will strike me as horrifyingly awful and other parts will make me SO HAPPY. The parts that make me happy will get me excited about the book again and determined to fix the crappy stuff, enough to start moving forward. Everything will be okay.

For the moment, though, I'm giving up, because writing a book is pretty much the stupidest idea I ever had.

Dear writers: I thought I'd share, in case this is the sort of day you're having, too.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

I just finished a massive revision. I am celebrating by lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling, and occasionally taking bites out of a cheeseburger. It is THE BEST.

Some End of Revision Randutiae for you, dear readers:

Fancy dresses from the Met Gala. Some of these dresses are actually beyond my powers of comprehension, but Lily Collins looks great. [ETA: I've become aware that the link no longer works, but I've been unable to find one that actually does! Sorry!]

Quick Links

"Then, at last, sitting on her stretcher-bed, she took from the very bottom of her pack an old peacock-blue scarf folded around a heavy, square book. She unwrapped it and opened it very carefully, as if guilty secrets might fall from between its pages like pressed flowers. This was Harry's secret. She was a writer."

-from The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy

Writing is my secret. Every day I unwrap and open it as carefully as I can. Welcome to my blog about writing and life! Above you'll find quick links about me and my books, and below is more about me, ways to subscribe, and an archive of past posts. Click here to go home to my most recent posts.

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About the Author

Kristin Cashore wrote the New York Times bestsellers Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue, all of which have been named ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Her next book, Jane, Unlimited, comes out in September 2017. Graceling is the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and Fire is the winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. The books are world travelers, currently scheduled to be published in thirty-four languages.

Finally, a note: This blog is my only online presence. I am not on Facebook, Google+, or any other social media sites, and I use Twitter solely as an amalgamation feed for my blog. Sorry, but I do not read @-replies on Twitter!